Champions again, but a diminished sense of achievement

I have been feeling fairly flat over the last few days, in stark contrast with the heady exuberance I recall feeling when we unexpectedly won our first championship in a generation in 2018, and the satisfaction this time last year. I have been struggling to work out why. Have I become complacent, taking success for granted? Quite possibly, but I think there is more to it than that.  

We have been the best team this season, of that there is no doubt. Yet we haven’t played as consistently well; we haven’t needed to because the standard of batting especially has generally been significantly weaker. Kent, Middlesex and Northants were all pretty wretched, though Northants have the bowling to bounce straight back up. Warwickshire were pitiful on both of the occasions we faced them. Somerset offered little other than Henry's threat with the ball. In short, the division was weaker.

Among the “positives” from the season have been improvement in Gus Atkinson and Jamie Smith, though of course that has come at a heavy price. I am sick of our players being “tall poppies” in the ECB’s eyes; other counties are better at keeping their best performers below the radar for longer. Tom Lawes was bizarrely in and out of the team in the early part of the season, but pretty much every time he plays he underlines just what a talent he already is. While we lost Ollie Pope’s runs earlier in the season than we would have liked because of the front-loaded test schedule, Jamie Smith has come on in leaps and bounds as a direct result of our having the peerless Ben Foakes available to don the gloves on a regular basis.  


We did pretty well with our overseas picks. Kemar Roach hit the ground running in his first stint, though his return in September left me wondering if he would be the same force if he were to return at 35. He has played a significant part in two successive championships, and it might be best for him to leave us with those memories rather than go on one year too long (exhibit A: M Morkel). Tom Latham started slowly but finished with some valuable knocks away from home and was a superb asset in the slips. Sai Sudharsan’s recent signing ruffled some feathers, but after getting a dreadful decision in his one knock against Northants he played two very mature innings in the last match when none of our regular batsmen could cope. But the best of the bunch was surely Sean Abbott, whose useful bowling was surpassed by his unexpectedly impressive batting. It often felt that he was coming in a couple of places too low in our order. If he’s available for next season, let’s get him back.  

I am aware that much that I am slightly disillusioned about is not Surrey’s fault, but the ECB’s. I had hoped that Thompson and Gould would already be rolling back the frontiers of the wretched Hundred, creating the space we need in the calendar for more championship cricket and a 50-over competition in which the best players were available to play. For whatever reason, they seem to be dragging their heels. The result has been a disjointed schedule where the county programme has continued to be pushed to the margins. I was disappointed with Surrey for being complicit in the shenanigans over parachuting players in from the Ireland match to play in the last round of matches. It is simply not cricket to field a seamer who takes five wickets and replace him with a batting spinner on a wicket which turns square on day 3. We didn’t need to do it to retain the championship and we lost the match regardless. A poor decision, end of.

But we are deservedly champions again, and although I am more than ready for a break from cricket I know I will be back again in April. I may watch some of the 50-over world cup, where I will be cheering the rightful holders New Zealand but basically I will be happy if ABE win (you can work that out!). I’ll be nipping back in from time to time, but otherwise, winter well everyone

Great piece Jackers, and I echo much of what you say. I fear though that things won't change significantly next season while the ECB in its current form continues to ruin the great game. I have little confidence in the two Dicks to change anything bar spending obscene amounts off money on inclusion, diversity and other wokery, so I doubt anything much will improve.
As Jackers says I to will nip back here and there but
I'll dip into the World Cup and be supporting the unofficial holders, and maybe a bit of India vs England. Otherwise I'm rather busy domestically and a bit tired of cricket at the moment.
Have a good winter folks and oh yes, a Merry Christmas!

I think it is too early to blame the two Dicks for anything. If I recall correctly the scheduling decisions were made before they came in under Claire Connor, who also managed to extend the H*ndred lease until 2028 during her 6 weeks in office. Richard Thompson has already said we won't have the final test in July again so there will be some improvement there for sure.

You also seem to be having your cake and eating it regarding England vs Ireland. Apparently it's Surrey's fault Jacks and Smith got called up (it isn't) and it's also Surrey's fault they played this week (again, it isn't). The truth of the matter is the series should have been scheduled when Ireland were over here in June and then it would not have been an issue. The Ashes could then have run into the middle of August before the ODIs vs New Zealand.

Good piece Jackers, for which I agree with most of what you have said. However as someone else has replied, I don't think we can blame the two Richards about the on-going baseball competition taking over the whole of August and ruining our great game. We are forced to suffer it for another few years due to contracts signed BUT we certainly must hope that the ECB end this complete nonsense immediately in 2028 as soon as the contract runs out.
I too am going to have a little break from thinking about cricket but perhaps in a couple of weeks I think we should all start reviewing which Surrey players we want to keep in long term contracts and which ones we want to get rid of after some of the things that have gone on this season - I will leave you to start pondering whom we might potentially be referring to!!!

Great post Jackers. The end of the county season is always sad but at least we have the World Cup to keep us going. Then the county fixtures to look forward to. I hope everyone on here has a happy and healthy winter. Take care everyone.

I don’t mind us losing the last game of any County season if we have won the title already !

I don't think if it would kick in after two titles but I wonder if seemingly endless titles would kill some of the buzz. While there would have been pride in the long run of titles in the 1950s, would each title have in itself have generated the same sense of achievement? I suppose it might depend on how close each title was, which I have not looked at.

Obviously you are never going actively to want your team to lose (match or title) but I imagine there must have been some thinking "fine but please, someone else win it this year so it will make winning it next year a real challenge".

I think you see the same thing with Bayern Munich, PSG and prospectively Manchester City in football. You want to win but you also want decent competition. Establishing dynasty sounds good but you have to be careful what you wish for!

Best wishes to everyone, woke, antiwoke or just dozing, for the off season.

It’s harder to retain any title than winning it . The best players and coaches are always hungry for more success and as a true supporter that’s got to the aim . It would be good if we can bag a second trophy in the same year next season .

Only 2 trophies we can play for next season.The 50 over competition is completely out of Range for Surrey.The 20/20 would be nice but do you
plan a campaign on that Tournament?

Wedmore Wanderer wrote:It’s harder to retain any title than winning it . The best players and coaches are always hungry for more success and as a true supporter that’s got to the aim .

Oh yes, that's always what you want to happen in any particular year.

My question was more whether the Nth successive win generates the same electricity as the first or second. In football, there are countries where the same team wins every year and will almost certainly continue to do so because they get Champions League money which dwarfs all other income in that league. That (CL money) is not a situation mirrored in cricket but the general idea still stands - that strong competition but winning less arguably makes the victories more of an achievement and more enjoyable than if it becomes routine.